Labor of love

December 22, 2005|LYN STEGEMILLER Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- Esther Craig didn't want to say how much money she has raised over the years for Heifer International. "Let's just say that two years ago was the greatest check and it equaled three heifers," the 89-year-old said with a smile. There must be quite a few cows grazing in the world's pastures these days thanks to Craig. She has been donating to Heifer since the program began in 1944. Her father, George H. Craig, served on the original Heifer committee, she said. "Somehow or other, it really got in our veins," Craig said. "I can't imagine children growing up without milk to drink." The idea for selling items to raise money for the cause came about after a neighbor suggested Craig make some crocheted towels. "I made six or eight towels, took them into work (at Church of the Brethren headquarters in Elgin, Ill.), laid them on a file cabinet, and in no time at all, they were gone," Craig said. "People asked for more." That was around 1980. Craig retired in 1981 and moved to South Bend in 1985. Since that time, she has sold hundreds of handmade items, she said. Scrubbers, towels, dishcloths, pickles, jellies and jams are among the wares she sells at about three or four fairs throughout the year. Come gardening time, though, the handiwork often gets put on hold, she said. But the harvest from that garden is used to make the food items she sells for Heifer. Three or four years ago, Craig thought sales were getting to be too much for her to handle. When she mentioned stopping her efforts, her sister Wilma Rolston, of South Bend, volunteered to help make change for customers. Rolston, 73, now travels with Craig, handles the money and sells her own handmade hats, scarves and Christmas candleholders. Craig said that she normally does not designate animals to be purchased with the donations she sends in. "They can use it however they want. I can't be the judge," she said. With her failing eyesight, she expects she'll have to stop the project she loves in a year or two. That's not to say that the family's fundraising efforts will cease. "I'm afraid I'm hooked now," Rolston said.